Patents have been granted to a variety of inventions for single sheet, dual sided printed matter, which is folded accordion style. These include U. S. Pat. No. 4,801,157 issued on Jan. 31, 1989 to Sink for a map folded in an accordion style. U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,231 was granted to Hollander et al. on Aug. 10, 1993 for a poster and catalog combination with accordion folds. And U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,833 issued to Trikilis on Sep. 3, 1985 for a publication capable of being read in a manner similar to a magazine that is folded in an accordion style.
The accordion style folded sheet imposes serious limitations in the manner in which the printed matter presented can be read. Accordion style folds are usually created in parallel, meaning that the entire sheet must be completely unfolded to read the last panels in the sequence. This means that readers are either forced to hold a large and bulky sheet in their hands as they read, or the readers are required to refold the sheet as they read. Furthermore, in an accordion style fold, an indicator is not present to inform the reader of a starting place when unfolding the sheet to begin to read. The reader could start on any one of the pleats in the zigzag accordion fold. Because of the lack of organization and complexity of the accordion style fold, usually much space is needed to read the sheet when it is unfolded. This necessity for space makes the accordion style fold unsuitable for small quarters such as in the space of volume of a car, plane, etc. Another problem with the accordian style fold is it is difficult to gain access to particular sections that are at the bottom of a folded sheet. Often, the entire sheet must be open to gain access to sections at the bottom of the folded sheet.
Also, when the panels are intended to be a specifically sequenced series of panels of text and images, the accordion style fold is not the ideal form of presentation because of the problems mentioned above.
Unrelated to the problems associated with the accordion style folded sheets are problems associated with book publishing. Currently, book publishing expenses frequently deter potential authors from communicating their written word to audiences. Book publishing can be expensive because of the complex procedures and requisite materials needed to make a book. For example, book manufacturing often involves complex paper cutting procedures and binding methods. In addition to the costs associated with book publishing are expenses associated with shipping published books. Books are often large and bulky and not amenable for compact storage.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for presenting printed matter on a medium in an organized fashion where the medium is not bulky and does not require significant expense to manufacture. Another need exists in the art for presenting printed matter on a medium that can be folded and unfolded without confusing the reader.